Pope Gregory I

Pope Gregory I (540-15 March 604) was Pope from 590 to 604, succeeding Pope Pelagius II and preceding Pope Sabinian.

Biography
Gregory was born in 540 AD to the elder Gregory, a doctor of the church. He became a member of a monastic order himself, and he was not always pleasant or forgiving; he forced a monk to die friendless and alone for stealing three gold pieces. Gregory believed that punishment for one's sins could begin on their deathbed, and he threw the body with the coins on a heap of manure, telling him to take his money with him to perdition. From 579 to 585 AD he was the ambassador to Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire, and in 590 AD he was consecrated as Pope. Gregory sent Augustine of Canterbury to England, where he founded the Church of England. Gregory is also attributed with starting the medieval papacy due to his writings, and John Calvin said that he was the last great pope.